Finished Nordika Scrappy Trip Quilt

A couple days before Christmas, I wrote about some of my 2014 goals. The first item on my list was a scrappy trip quilt using Nordika by Jeni Baker. I really loved my first scrappy trip quilt that I made for my nephew. When I bought some Nordika and coordinating solids and oval elements from Art Gallery, I knew I wanted to make another scrappy trip quilt for me. After Christmas, I got the itch to start this quilt, and I finished it a couple days after the new year. Not bad for accomplishing my first goal of 2014 so soon into the new year.

I initially planned to use the same layout as my first scrappy trip quilt, but after piecing a couple rows together, I changed my mind and used this layout instead.

It's funny that my favorite block, which is made up of blue, gray, black, and berry, really jumps out at me in this quilt (fourth row from the left, fourth block down).

For the backing, I used a variety of solid flannel strips that coordinated with the colors on the front.

The binding is the yellow bias plaid print from Nordika, which ended up being the perfect fit! I stipple quilted on the sides and then I quilted the rest in meandering loops.

The quilt measures about 72 inches square and it's been in constant use at my house for the past two months--my favorite!

2014 Planning

As the year is coming to a close, I've been thinking about the projects I'd like to work on next year. I'm starting graduate school and I know that my sewing time will be whittled down quite a bit as a result. I still have a few WIPs that I'd like to finish off, but I've decided that (at this moment in time) there are two projects that I'm really excited to work on. And they're new...which means I should probably stitch up some of those projects for which I've already cut the fabric. Hmmm.

Ever since finishing my nephew's Chicopee Scrappy Trip quilt, I've wanted one for myself. And I decided a couple months ago that I wanted to make it out of Nordika by Jeni Baker. She even put together an amazing color-matching guide that I used to order some coordinating oval elements and pure elements fabrics since the scrappy trip pattern takes a ton of yardage.

Photo courtesy Westwood Acres Fabric

Photo courtesy Jeni Baker via incolororder.com

Photo courtesy Jeni Baker via incolororder.com

A photo by Pitter Putter Stitch

The other project that I'm really excited about is a half-square triangle quilt using Anna Maria Horner's new True Colors line. I haven't been a die-hard AMH fan in the past (I know, blasphemous - there are lots of prints from her that I've loved though), but the colors in this True Colors line are so saturated and absolutely glorious!

Photo courtesy Westwood Acres Fabric 

My quilt won't look like this one from Anna's booth at Fall Quilt Market, but I definitely will be using HSTs in my value study layout. I. Seriously. Cannot. Wait!

Photo courtesy Lee Heinrich via freshlypieced.com

There is one more project swirling in my head today that I think I want to tackle next year as well. I just don't have the fabrics figured out yet. I really love Angela's Arkansas Crossroads quilt that she posted on IG today (and has shown snippets of in the past). I absolutely LOVE it!

Photo courtesy Fussycut via Instagram

So there you have it. A few projects I'm excited to work on in 2014. I've got one more quilt to finish up for Christmas and I'll be back to share my other finishes for the end of the year. Merry Christmas next week to those of you celebrating!

Chicopee et. al. Scrappy Trip Quilt Top

I always have these crazy ideas to make last-minute quilts. I like the excitement of getting caught up in a new project, but then I somehow manage to stress myself out because of the tight deadlines I put on myself.

I have a goal to make a quilt for everyone in my family. With five siblings and 17 grandchildren on my side alone, that makes for a lot of quilts. Two of my nephews are rooming together at college next week and I thought I'd better hurry and make quilts for both of them. One of the boys said he likes dark colors, something that I don't have a lot of in my stash. But, I did have a FQ bundle of Chicopee in the blue colorway and I thought that'd be a good starting point. I've been wanting to make a #scrappytrip quilt since the quilt-along craze popped up on Instagram, but since I was pushing myself to finish my WIP list, I put it off. But, then I thought a quilt for my nephew would be a good time to use the design.

As I said, the Chicopee FQ bundle was just a starting point. The scrappy trip pattern requires a lot of fabric. I initially wanted to make a quilt that was 7 x 9 blocks, but after calculating the needed yardage, it was going to be something crazy like 9 yards. So, I scaled back to a 5 x 7 layout, but I didn't like that, so I made a random block and changed the layout to 6 x 6. It used nearly six yards of fabric. Since the Chicopee bundle wasn't six yards-worth of fabric, I looked in my stash and started pulling some coordinating prints, including some Modern Meadow, Neptune, Architextures, Nicey Jane, Going Coastal, Roughing It, and a few others that I can't name off the top of my head.



I really love how the quilt top turned out. I definitely plan to make another one to keep.

I basted the quilt Monday night (using a navy blue flat sheet for the backing), quilted it last night, and hope to bind it tonight so I can gift it on Thursday before my nephew heads up to school.